I can’t go to church because of Dragonball Z...

December 29, 2014

THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!! Why? Well....CHRISTMAS!!! Yay. And because I can’t stop laughing at everything that happened this week. It was crazy.... to quote my companion, "We’ve had to cancel on 2 visits this past week, but it’s because somebody was either dying...or dead". You already know about us having to go sing at the funeral, well, as part of it we missed singing in the ward choir, and they weren’t really happy, since we make up half of the men who sing. The other time. Well,  ya...we were in the hospital again. We were having a white elephant activity with the youth, and one of the young women in our area lost all feeling and control of her hand, so we went with her to the hospital, and we missed a visit because of it..oh well. Emergency’s just go hand in hand with the mission. It was kinda funny though, because before we took her to the hospital the other youth were having fun asking her "does this hurt? How about this? And this?" We made them stop once they started poking her hand with a fork...no blood was drawn though!! Apparently the doctor played the same game though, and did draw blood.....fun stuff!! Then on top of that, people were giving us the craziest excuses as to why they couldn’t meet with us, or come to church. My favorite? I can’t go to church because of Dragonball Z". Waait....what? Ya, I still don’t understand.

It was just a great week, and of course the best part was talking to my family. We went to a guy in the ward who is an IT and his set up was sweet!!! The first time everything worked perfectly from my end. Now if my parents could just figure out my dad’s new computer, we’ll be fine:)

Over all this week was really great, and I hope that all of you have a great week this time around!! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Elder Dixon

 Elder Frederich and Ricky

Christmas Skype calls are the BEST!

Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2014

Ok, so this week was crazy.....really. Tuesday we had zone Christmas conference, and got the flu shot....ya, fun, I know....we walked in and Sister Pace was like “Merry Christmas! We got you all a gift! A shot!! Yay!!" and I was like.....are you kidding? grr....oh well:) it didn’t hurt too bad, and only one of the zone leaders fainted and had to go to the hospital...for real though, he did. anyway, then after that we have been working on piso repairs, still, so that’s some of our Christmas gift:) and oh, ya, we went to help a member move some stuff...and turns out he’s a dj, so he showed us all his sound stuff...I died for a bit, cuz you know I love that kind of sound light tech stuff. It was sweet. Then, of course, Saturday we went to a David Archuleta fireside / concert. He’s really really good…. and his Spanish is ok...he lacks the theta, but other than that, he’s really good!! 

So, this week was really really good, but really, what made it really special was Sunday. We have been practicing for the ward choir for the past month-ish, and we were really excited to sing in Church on Sunday. However, we didn’t get the chance to. On Friday, the mother of one of the members who we are really close to passed away, and so he asked us to go sing at her funeral, which would be at a Catholic funeral home. So, we figured it out with our bishop so we could go and get the sacrament at a different ward, and then we went, and sang, and it was a beautiful ceremony, even though it was a catholic thing, the Spirit was still there, testifying of the truthfulness of some of the things that were said, and especially during the song.  We sang Mas Cerca Dios de Ti, and it was powerful. When we are called to be disciples of Christ, it’s not just to preach, but we are also to "mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those in need in comfort" even if it is at our own expense. So, even though I was super scared to sing, and even though we missed the chance at church to set up Christmas visits and will probably end up contacting in the streets, I learned more about being a disciple of Christ than I ever have before. It truly was a blessed experience that I will never forget.

I love to be a missionary, especially during this special time of the year, when we are supposed to remember Him even more. The Christmas Spirit is in more than just food and gifts, but really, in becoming a true disciple of Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Love,

Elder Dixon

David Archuleta is going to do a private concert !!

December 15, 2014

 

We had a lot of stuff going on this week, and taught a bunch of lessons to less actives. It was a pretty good week. With Christmas right around the corner too, we have been preparing a bunch of stuff, like activities and visits, so were pretty busy.

This past week was also the birthday of one of the less active JAS , and so we prepared a surprise birthday for him with a bunch of the youth from the ward, kind of to show him that he had friends in the ward. He got offended a while ago, only the people who offended him didn’t know, so it was kind of awkward when one of them showed up. However, by the end, they were talking like old times, and they worked stuff out, apparently, so it turned out to be a little blessing. We were stressed out of our minds though. Just goes to show that when you do all you can, God does the rest, even if He does it in a way that may freak you out a bit at the beginning.

This next week is going to be crazy too, because we have the mission Christmas program, like we did last year, so that will be fun, but then on top of that, we’re in the ward, and stake choirs, so there’s more stuff to do....and then on Saturday David Archuleta is going to do a private concert for the missionaries and investigators, and some of the youth from the Barcelona, Hospitalet, and Badolona stakes. It’s gonna be crazy! Each companionship has 3 tickets to give out, and then each ward has 20. Fun stuff!!!

So to end, I want to share a sweet experience that happened to us Saturday. We got a call from a member early in the morning, about 8 o’clock, asking us to go give a blessing to his mother in the hospital. She had gotten home from a two month trip to Bolivia literally 5 hours before, and all of sudden she couldn’t breath, and she went into cardiac arrest, and so we went to give her a blessing. It was a very sweet experience, because her son is the only member of his family, but his 3 siblings were all super glad to see us. We had to wait outside for a while because the doctors were working. She was in the intensive care, critical unit, and so we were only allowed in for about 2 minutes, and only two at a time. However, the nurse was really nice and let the three of us go in. There were machines beeping and tubes everywhere, and his mother was shaking, and there was a nurse checking everything. So, while all this was going on, we gave the blessing, and as soon as we started, it all went calm, and we could feel the Spirit really strong. It was a sweet experience. After we left the room, we stayed around talking, trying to console the family for a little while, and then we left, humbled. I am so grateful for the priesthood power, and that I am worthy to exercise it. It truly is one of the greatest blessings.

I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Dixon

"He is the gift", or in Spanish " El es la Dádiva"

December 9, 2014

This week so much happened, and yet, looking at my planner, it seems like we didn’t do anything. We were running everywhere, doing so many things, a ton of visits fired, and it was just a crazy week, but, we saw a lot of blessings too. One really neat thing this week was that we had zone enfoque, which was amazing. The whole thing was about the new church video, "He is the gift", or in Spanish " El es la Dádiva". The whole idea behind it is to get people to think more of Christ during this season, and to help with missionary work. Do you remember the video "Because of Him"? ya, that was just a test for this one. It wasn’t very advertised or anything, and yet, it was a huge success. So, now for the "He is the gift" video, 80000 some odd missionaries have 250 pass along cards per companionship to share it, and we have to give a weekly report of how many people start investigating the church because of it. It was also the huge advertisement on you tube Sunday, so everybody could see it. During the month of December, Times Square in New York is covered in banners and other methods of advertisement, and here in Spain we have been working a ton with it. I love the new church video. It really is super great, and when it is combined with a lesson afterwards, it is really powerful. One really neat story with it is that the day after we talked about it, we went to a part member family for a visit. The parents are starting to come back to church, and want their 10 year old daughter to get baptized, but she has been kinda reluctant. Well, we watched the video, and then we asked her specifically if she would be baptized on the 27 of December to start the New Year, and to give a gift back. The spirit was really strong, and she agreed. She has been reading every day since then, and came to church and everything. We had a family home evening with them yesterday, and she sounds really excited. It going to be a white Christmas after all! It was a really neat experience.

I love the church. Really, it’s super neat how organized it all is, and how Heavenly Father just makes everything work out somehow.

I hope you all have a good week, and share the video with some of your friends.

Love,

Elder Dixon

We were forced to duck into a doorway

November 23, 2015 

Today is my comps 21st birthday, so we had a ton of fun.  Haha, one of the funny parts about being here in Spain, is that coke is cheaper than beer, which is cheaper than water, and so it being the 21st birthday, of course my comp bought some of the alcohol free stuff, just to say he did:) 0.0 percent alcohol, just the taste. (nasty) so, he and Elder Jacobson went to the office, and me and Elder Olaso stayed and decorated the piso, and made a cake and everything, and so when they got back it was a huge surprise. We had a ton of fun. (Thanks mom for sending all the stuff.  Turned out better late:)

 

Other than that, this week was really good, we had a lot of fun and had a bunch of little blessings. We've been working with the menos activos a lot, and it's really been great because they have a lot of family. For example, the mother of one of the JAS (young single adults) isn't a member, and so last week we had a really great visit with her. She is trying to find a religion, and is studying with the Testigos (Jehovah Witnesses), and so in our visit she was asking us and her daughter about the questions she has, and because her daughter was there, she was able to connect more with her mom, and pull from personal experience to help her understand. At the end, we were talking, and Elder Frederich pointed out how interesting it was, that she was looking for a religion, and yet she hadn't even tried to read the Book of Mormon or anything and find out about the church her daughter is a part of.  It was a really powerful lesson, and we're going back this Wednesday to see how it goes.

 

Another neat little blessing happened last night. It was raining buckets, and since we didn't have a visit we were walking the streets doing a pass by plan. Well, as we were walking down the street, the rain picked up, and was going through our umbrellas, and so we were forced to duck into a doorway, and since we were stuck, we figured why not? lets knock the building. So we went in, started going up to the top floor, and my companion made the comment that we had been forced by divine power to stop at this building, and so we should expect a miracle. Well, we were knocking the doors, and about half way through, the man who answered was really excited, and told us about 6 months ago he had been contacted on the streets and given his phone number to the elders, but they had never called. He didn't have time right then, but he gave us his number and told us to come back next Saturday when he doesn't have work, and we could talk. It was a neat experience.

 

The mission is a ton of fun.  It's crazy, and difficult, but overall, it's a ton of fun.

 

Thank for all your support,

Love you,

Elder Dixon

...wait, What?

November 22, 2014

This week was amazing!!!!  Ok, I guess I better start off with Wednesday, when we had a zone conference, where we talked about a bunch of stuff, like faith, and then also about how we needed to shine our shoes and get our hair cut before that Saturday, because every missionary from our mission would be going to a very special conference at 10:30 am Saturday morning, where Elder Cook, of the Quorum of the 12, would be coming to speak to us......wait, What? So ya:) this week was really good. He came for a stake conference, and wanted to see the missionaries. So, it ended up being a question answer thing, and his wife also talked a lot about music and stuff, and overall, I learned a ton about faith, and I wanna share just a few things.

 

Elder Cook mentioned, that we don't know how much power faith has, it was by faith mountains were moved. So, we need more faith! But what happens if we don't? He then explained that "the desire to have faith is precious" and that nobody should feel less worthy or spiritual or anything, for only having the desire, instead of the faith itself. I wish I could describe better how he said it, because it was so powerful, especially when he described it as being something precious, and of value, rather than ¨less¨.  He then mentioned, that when we have more faith, we see more success.  It was a really neat meeting, and I got to see a ton of friends, like Elder LeSueur, and Elder and Sister Clark. It was really great. 

Well, we kinda got back from our hike late, so I don't have much time. I hope you all have a good week!

 

Love,

Elder Dixon

...the next thing I knew I was asking him if he believed in God...

November 17, 2014

This week was really great. We got a lot done, and had a bunch of fun, and we are getting to know the members a lot better, and so this week has been a little easier. One neat thing, is that we have found a neat way of teaching the restoration, and that is by going through the little points in the 30 to 40 minute lesson in preach my gospel, and so it is helping us be able to teach more effectively. I've never taught like this before in my mission, and I really want to learn it better, and do the same for all the lessons.  I've learned a ton just studying as a companionship the basic doctrines, and I realized that I skip a lot of the plain and precious truths preach my gospel has in it. It's really been a great week of study. My companion is amazing.   It's been really great to learn and work with him.

 

Some other stuff this week was a bunch of ward activities, just as a single adults activity where there were six missionaries, and we all had a little part to testify about, but it all got confused somehow...and then ended really awkwardly with a weird kind of dance thing....the food was good though, so I'm not complaining!  We also went to another activity that was supposed to be a family talent type thing, that we were asked to go to, but it turned into just a dance...only there wasn't an age limit. So we left early....after grabbing food, of course:) and then Sunday was the primary program, which was really fun to see.   The songs are weird in Spanish though...I couldn't sing along.  Oh well:)

 

Oh, I forgot to write about a little blessing we had.  We were in a pueblo that is part of our area, and as we were walking, my companion had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a bar so he could go. Well, we walked in and nobody was there, except for the bartender at a table, who asked us what we needed and then went back to reading.  Well, I was just kinda standing there all awkwardly, when the bartender asked me from what company we were from, in broken Spanish, and the next thing I knew I was asking him if he believed in God, and sitting down at the table talking with him. He's from China, and has been here for ten years, and he really doesn't know all that much about religion, but he said he would love to read the Book of Mormon, but he can't because he can't read Spanish very well.  So when we told him we had one in Chinese, he was super excited.  We set up a visit for us to go back, and when we went back he was really excited to be able to read it and understand.   He's a great guy, and so now we'll just see what happens.  It was a pretty neat little experience though.  And I got to give out a Book of Mormon in Chinese, so that's pretty great too.

 

Well, that was basically my week.   It was a blast.

Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Elder Dixon